The recent notoriety of Molly the barn owl motivated me to search out other webcams to look at animals. The sites I like are the ones with wild animals rather than the neighbor’s dog or cat. There are a lot of zoos with nice webcams so I listed San Diego. My favorites are still the animals in the wild and I have concentrated on those. I hope these sites will bring a smile to your face as they have for me.
One feature of this site is the daily time lapse video. If you miss a day you can catch up quickly. There is a number below the videos that denotes which pandas you are viewing.
Pandas are notoriously inquisitive and make for better viewing than you would imagine. Watch young Yun Zi celebrate his first birthday. He is given a tiered ice and bamboo birthday cake. His mother knows exactly what this cake is but it takes the youngster a little longer to decide this is very yummy! The Panda Cam is a must see!
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/pandacam/
There is a live webcam called the Bad Manors Squirrel Diner. Betty Squirrely has a facebook page that features amusing squirrel photos. The webcam is on her balcony which is regularly visited by squirrels. She has props that the squirrels interact with as she takes their pictures. I would recommend checking the face book page out if you are a fan of squirrels. Recently she had a contest where you could submit your own photos and fans voted for the best picture. The webcam also has a chat room. It’s not the webcam I would spend alot of time watching but still worthy of looking at.
http://www.ustream.tv/badmanors
UStream has a really easy to use site that is one of my favorites for webcams. I first found it from watching Molly the barn owl featured on the nightly news. Molly’s is a webcam that sits high above someones home with a bird house that has an owl nesting in it. Molly sits on her nest of babies feeding them whatever Daddy brings them. Dead rats and rabbits are shredded and fed to the newborn owls. It is definitely worth seeing. The babies are growing at amazing speed. The owner narrates interesting facts about the family. Both the family of humans and the owls they live next to. There is an very well done DVD that they offer on the site as well as merchandise.
http://www.ustream.tv/theowlbox
While on UStream I discovered The Backyard Galah cam direct from an Australian garden. This is a delightful webcam. It is my ultimate favorite for daily use. There are amazing shots of beautiful wild cockatoos eating in the garden. The picture quality is excellent and the countryside view breathtaking. I was happy with the easy log in and ability to chat with other viewers. The owner says that kangaroos also stroll by. There were horses on past videos in the garden as well. I saw two small Jack Russell terriers and a large black cat interacting in the yard last week. The time zone is alittle different from mine and I am able to catch the sunrise with the cockatoos flying in for breakfast.
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/peacheyroo
There is an Eagle cam at Hornsby Island British Colombia that has a nice video feed. I have not personally seen an eagle in this nest but the photo is good.
http://www.hornbyeagles.com/webcam.htm
I found a pay site called UseeWildlife.com. There is a sign up fee of $20.00 for a year to see live feed of deer, ducks, coyotes and other wildlife. I don’t think I would ever pay to use a site like this.
This is a webcam on UStream that has two baby hummingbirds in a nest. The babies are almost ready to fly. The nest was made on a wind chime on someones porch. The color isn’t good but the photo is excellent. I enjoyed seeing it but it isn’t one I would spend a lot of time at. It will probably not be on long term as the fledglings will soon fly away. I’m sure I would never see a hummingbird like this without this site.
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ms-humerica-wee-the-peeps
Last winter we could watch Lily the American black bear while she hibernated and gave birth to her cub. The webcam was mounted in the side of her den. All winter we watched little Hope (fans named the cub) as she nursed. Months went by and the bears left the den. Researchers still follow the bears and post photos on the website as well as facebook. Winter will bring another season of viewers I expect!
www.bear.org
I hope this list helps you locate animals that you wouldn’t see in your daily life. It’s amazing what we have access to with the Internet. I find it a great escape to port ones self to another’s backyard and view the wildlife there. In a world of gloom and doom this is a positive experience for sure.
